Category Archives: History of Labor

Watch for the appearance of the “New” New Voice, the faculty union newsletter (special 12-page edition) on April 30, just in time for May Day.

More May Day events:

Occupy May Day
Solidarity Lunch
on May 1, 2012
from 12 noon – 2 pm

Local 153 OPEIU (Academic and Administrative Support Staff)
is inviting faculty, staff and students to join us in Solidarity
with the “Day Without the 99%”

Wear Red (for May Day) and or Black (for OWS)
Brown Bag Your Lunch (OWS is calling for “no shopping” on May Day)
and break bread together by the Cannon.

The teachers have been working without a contract for almost a year, our union and
the other unions are coming out to show solidarity with the faculty and the students
who have been subjected to annual tuition increases during a time when many
of our students are struggling to continue and complete their educations.

Once they graduate most of our students will find themselves burdened
by student debt at a time when finding employment is very difficult.

May Day is “International Workers Day” and has a long history of militancy, especially in NYC.

I am pleased to announce that on Friday, December 9th, from 5:15-7:30, at Pratt Institute (location TBA), the UFCT Local 1460 will be hosting a lecture/presentation: “The State of Academic Unionism.” Our esteemed guests will be both Stanley Aronowitz of the CUNY Graduate Center, and Michael Pelias of LIU.

Please RSVP ASAP (kyecarbone@gmail.com) as seating will be limited. Moreover, students, friends, and guests are allowed, but we will need to know just how many to accommodate.

Here is an excellent report on the situation at UC Davis, and in the California public university system in general, in the wake of pepper spraying of students and use of police brutality on campus. It includes an interview with untenured professor Nathan Brown who called for the Chancellor’s resignation, and has since garnered support from around the world. A brilliant example of faculty and students standing in solidarity against tuition hikes and the repression of free speech on campus.

A call from a fellow Pratt Faculty Union member to join the historic Occupy Wall Street movement:

Sisters & Brothers:
I’m on sabbatical this semester so I’ve spent a lot of time on Wall Street. I’ve seen some of you at Liberty Plaza, mostly sisters, two of whom are officials of our glorious union. I would encourage each of you to visit the Occupation at your convenience, what has been evolving there is truly incredible. I’m curious as to what Pratt students think, I’ve seen a few of them there, one doing documentary photography.

I will be at the demonstration on Wednesday and would like to suggest that Pratt’s Local 1460 march together in solidarity. Make signs, bring musical instruments or noise makers, good shoes and a sense of pride.

Time
Wednesday, October 5 · 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Location
City Hall, 250 Broadway
Created By
Beyond May 12
More Info
Union workers and community members impacted by the economic crisis have been demanding that Wall Street and the wealthiest New Yorker’s pay their fair share of taxes.

Let’s march down to Wall Street to welcome the protesters and show the faces of New Yorkers hardest hit by corporate greed.

Sponsored By:
United NY
Strong Economy for All Coalition
Working Families Party,
VOCAL-NY
Community Voices Heard
Alliance for Quality Education
New York Communities for Change
Coalition for the Homeless
Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)
TWU Local 100
The Job Party
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
The Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center
The New Deal for New York Campaign
National People’s Action
ALIGN
Human Services Council
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
Citizen Action of NY
MoveOn.org
SEIU 1199
CWA 1109
RWDSU
Communications Workers of America
Democracy for NYC
United Auto Workers
United Federation of Teachers
Professional Staff Congress – CUNY
National Nurses United
Common Cause NY

Calling a strike is never a cavalier move, or is it a stunt; but only called for when management chooses to be completely intractable with respect to collective bargaining. The LIU faculty union had been negotiating for a new contract in good faith w/LIU’s management since late spring and throughout the summer. They have come to an impasse

as LIU’s management is demanding: ‘0’, ‘0’, ‘0’ in wage increases for three years, and greater give-backs and contributions from the faculty for the cost of health benefits; hardly ‘reasonable’ or ‘benelvolent’ demands. When push comes to shove, LIU’s union has every right to consider, and thus call for, a strike…

In response, flunky administrative personnel have been dispatched to replace faculty in the teaching of classes, demonstrating all too clearly LIU’s lack of respect for their students in addition to their faculty.

Pratt and LIU are affiliated in many ways other than being the rare private-sector faculty unions — for both full-time and part-time faculty — in Brooklyn, much less, the country, as they were for a short time (in the early 70’s) in our own Local 1460, and in fact, used Pratt’s CBA as a model for their own contract. In addition, LIU spear-headed what is an ‘Alliance’ of all higher-ed faculty unions in the tri-state area irrespective of private or public-sector (i.e. SUNY, CUNY…), or each union’s affiliation w/NYSUT, NEA, AAUP, etc. We are thus “allied.”

In any event, I’m asking that you consider lending some support and solidarity to our Brooklyn brethren. They are holding pickets at Flatbush and DeKalb each day at 8:00 a.m. and 1p.m. I will be joining them tomorrow, Friday, September 9th, at 8:00 a.m.

Please understand that you are completely free to picket and/or rally at any time, but cannot ‘skip’ the teaching of your classes at Pratt to do so (that would be considered a ‘strike’ and we are prohibited from “lending a strike”…!) Moreover, there is a huge rally scheduled for next Monday,